MELBOURNE: A Melbourne design duo is hoping to fuse rock 'n' roll with fashion after launching a new womenswear collection into the market.

MELBOURNE: Victorian licensing group TNF has been awarded the rights to market and distribute the Champion sportswear brand exclusively across Australasia.

AUCKLAND: Kiwi fashion identity Paula Ryan is the only designer to be recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours List announced in New Zealand over the weekend.

MELBOURNE: The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union and Pacific Brands have again gone head to head with the former accusing the latter of moving government-funded machinery offshore.

MELBOURNE: Victorian men's apparel group Gazman is among those saying no the recession with the brand set to open its eighth store this financial year.

SYDNEY: Portmans, Target, Sussan and Alannah Hill have been fingered as being among the worst offenders when it comes to discrepancies in Australian clothing sizing standards.

SYDNEY: Workers at KingGee's Bellambi plant have signed up for TAFE courses paid for by the company's owner Pacific Brands after learning their workplace is being sold.

BRISBANE: More than 30 local designers have been confirmed to show on schedule at the fifth annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival in Brisbane.

SYDNEY: Japanese-inspired green retail store Via Alley appears to have risen from the dead.

QUEENSLAND: Billabong chairman Ted Kunkel has today written to the group's retail shareholders inviting them to purchase new shares in an attempt to put an additional $60 million in the company's coffers.

SYDNEY: The new owner of trouble boutique shirt brand Herringbone aims to open 10 new outlets in the next 24 months.

NATIONAL: Surfwear retailer Billabong has officially opened its first branded airport store, following a rocky week on the market.

NATIONAL: It's the kind of prestige fashion house many designers aspire to work for, but its Aboriginal artist Gloria Petyarre who's scooped the latest commission for Paris-based Hermes.

Linda Britten's latest venture will see her harking back to her early days as a designer with the re-launch of her 1970s label Anna Seed.

Australian designers looking to get a foot into the High Street market could be in for a long wait after discount department store Target suspends designer collaborations in the wake of a softening market.

High street retail brand Marcs has opened its second store across the Tasman.